The Great Grace Games
by TeamIris-GoROFLcopters
Summary: The gods are at it again! When Janus decides Jason needs to make his choice, history repeats itself. Seriously, are the gods batty? Under normal circumstances, this would be an easy fix, but what will happen to Jason when fighting breaks out amongst the other questers? Rated T (it's still better than coffee). Part II of the Split Series!
1. Daleks?

**SUPER BIG EXCITING NEWS! **

**M'Kay, thing is, two of my readers have requested I make J.G and the 7 not-Leo's a series – that I do all of the seven. **

**AND I NEVER LET MY READERS DOWN! (Well, except for Tangled Up With Gods and Guardians, I'll update it…eventually)**

**So, J.G + 7 n-Leo's is now the first instalment of THE SPLIT SERIES! That's right, SEVEN fanfictions. I have them planned out and everything. HOWEVER!**

**I am extremely stumped with Hazel and Piper. I have their personalities, but not the story. I need inspiration! HELP! **

**Also, one of the two people that want this wants me to do Percy second. But I have something VERY special planned there. I got the idea and just went o_o…YES! So he's seventh. Sorry you have to wait. But it'll be worth it…hopefully. **

**DISCLAIMER: Fun fact! I am working on my own novel! So, one day, I'll own that! Ha-HA! But I still don't own this. Damn.**

**Onwards!**

Leo was staring at the table. At the little spot on the table to be exact, as though it'll jump up, do a tap dance and explain these weird-as dreams. It was 3.00 in the morning and he'd woken up sweating. He'd had one of _those _dreams again. He was battling it out, going hammer to hammer with some sort of fire demon version of himself. He'd been having these dreams for a while now – with him fighting himself, riding an inflatable raft, arguing with himself. They made no sense.

He hadn't told the others about it. Somehow, they didn't feel like visions of the future – more like memories of the past. Was he finally losing it? So here he sat, at this un-gods-ly hour, alone in the mess hall with a goblet of warm chocolate milk with cinnamon mixed in. That's what he's mum had made him when he had nightmares. It settled him.

His mum. He had wondered about those days, now nearly two weeks ago, the ones he couldn't remember. Something didn't sit right. Jason was hit with a brick once, and he was only out for a few hours. How could a door knock Leo out for at all, let alone for THREE DAYS!? He trusted his friends. Why would they lie to him?

He sighed, leaning back, sipping his drink. If only there was a way to look at the past, if only to see what happ- BY THE GODS! He sat up straight so fast, he spilled his milk. He didn't care. Hera's peacock-patterned panties, he was stupid. The ship had _security cameras_. Not in the cabins – that would be downright creepy. But in the mess hall, upper deck, training area – surely he could work out what happened from that!

He was up like a flash, leaving his milk abandoned on the table. He ran as quickly and quietly as possible to the engine room. He flicked on the screen and tried to remember what the date was of the first day.

When he finally had it he flicked through the place. Hazel was on the upper deck. Piper, Percy, Annabeth and Frank were listening in the hall. Nosy, much? Finally, he and Jason were fighting. He grimaced and fast forwarded. When he played it again, his jaw dropped at what was in the mess hall.

Oh. My. Gods.

Jason liked bananas. Bananas are good **(A/N: does anyone get that reference?)**. So was sleep. When curly-haired mechanics interrupted sleep, that was bad. These were the simple, half-formed thoughts in Jason's head as Leo all but broke the door down at 3.30am. Fuzzy-haired and groggy, he opened up.

"Are we under attack again?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

"No." said Leo. Jason stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at him in surprise.

"Romans?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Gods?"

"Mm-mm." Jason stared at his friend. He leaned in close.

"Daleks?" he whispered. Leo stared.

"What?"

"Never mind. So, why are you waking me up?" he asked, trying very hard not to sound irritable.

"I need to show you something." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Jason by the wrist and started dragging him to the engine room.

"Can it wait to morning?" Jason asked, stumbling along in Leo's wake.

"Would I have woken you if it could?" Leo asked, sounding amused and a little exasperated.

They reached the engine room and Leo pointed to the screen. It displayed a paused security camera image showing…uh-oh. It showed the six questers and the seven not-Leo's. Styx.

"Knocked-out, huh?" Leo asked. He kept his voice light and casual, but Jason could hear the slightly accusatory undertone. Jason gave vent to a small sigh. It was too early for this.

"Look," Jason turned to Leo. "Hera thought we didn't know you well enough so she split you into seven different aspects of your personality." Leo was quiet, and Jason felt the need to explain. "When you couldn't remember, we didn't tell you because you thought you'd be embarrassed." Leo's head shot up.

"What's there to be embarrassed about?" he spoke quickly. "And, um, which aspects, exactly?" Jason sat down. This could take a while.

He explained the events of those three days as quickly and emotionlessly as he could. He monitored Leo's reaction carefully, but the son of Hephaestus's face was blank. He smiled a little as Jason explain Sidari and the raft flying.

"We thought you'd be embarrassed because, well, dude … Sadness? Inferiority? We didn't know." Jason desperately wanted this conversation to be over. Leo nodded slowly, staring into one of the nearby braziers.

"Anything else?" he asked quietly. Jason held in a sigh. He'd intentionally left it out.

"Sadness told me about the night your mum died." Leo closed his eyes like Jason had just confirmed his worse fear. Eventually he spoke.

"Sorry I lied to you and Piper. About the warehouse collapsing?" he said.

"Hey. I get it. It's fine." Jason hated the tension. Thankfully, Leo broke it.

"Ah, well. Gods are batty." He straightened up and looked Jason over. "Wonder what your aspects would be?"

"Ugh, I don't want to know." Jason got up. He was ready for sleep. He turned back at the doorway. "By the way, since when do we have security cameras?" Leo was shutting down the screen as he answered.

"Always. Why?" he asked.

"Um, do you check them often?"

"Only when I… have… to…" Leo trailed off as he realised how that looked. "NOT IN THE CABINS!"

"Oh, thank the gods." Jason sighed. He looked at Leo, who was wriggling his eyebrows suggestively, barely holding back a smile. He glared back, then they both burst out laughing. As Leo turned out the lights and he and Jason headed for their beds, a man with two faces stepped out of the shadows.

"That was interesting." The left said.

"The curly headed one has good ideas." Noted the right. The two heads of Janus, god of beginnings and ends, grinned at each other, for once in agreement.

"I think"

"It's time"

"For Mr Grace"

"To face"

"His choice." The two head spoke alternately. The god had, for a long time, doubted whether or not Jason had _truly _made the choice. They knew he still boiled with conflict. The god flicked a silver key in the air, and vanished before it hit the ground.

Time to make a choice.

**Bah-bah-bah! So, how was that? Did you like it? Please, review! I love reviews like Leo loves warm chocolate milk with cinnamon (have you ever tried that? It's AWESOME!). **

**Anyway, don't forget the Hazel/Piper dilemma. All ideas welcome!**

**By the way, question for MUCH later (like a few stories from now later) – Would you rather read a LOVE SPELL STORY or a CURSE THAT STOPS TALKING STORY?**

**Till next time!**


	2. Games

**Yay! A nice reception! I am pleased! Thank you!**

**RascalJoy: Thanks! This was a big help! **

**Sydy: Funnily enough, I've been rolling a PJATO/DW crossover around in my mind. But, this first. The other reference was also from DW. 'Bananas are good' is one of the 9****th**** Doctor's catchphrases. Ten says it once too.**

**ReAdErSfEvEr: Oh, YES! I've seen both, sad to see Smith go T_T. Ten was always my fav, I CRIED on his regeneration. 'I don't want to go'. TTT_TTT SO BEAUTIFUL! Seen the 50****th**** anniversary? So COOL!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing has changed here, and it never will.**

**WARNING: Spoilers for HoH! (Kinda goes without saying, but you know…)**

_Time to make a choice._

Percy was happy. He'd had his first dreamless night since Tartarus. He felt great, probably because he'd just gone swimming. He could keep up with the ship easily, and he'd bumped into some old dolphin friends from Long Island. Something about migrating** (A/N: do dolphins even migrate?)**. They'd spent the last hour or so racing and having competitions to see who could jump highest out of the water.

Now, he was back on board, and his fellow questers were just waking up. The 'not-Leo' thing was well cleared-up, the monster attacks were slowly lessening and nothing weird was going on.

And then he heard the THUMP.

"How did I jinx it with my mind!?" he muttered, pressing his fingers to his temples. THUMP. THUMP. The noise was coming from Jason's cabin, which he was passing in the hall. THUMP. Okay, now it was just mocking him. Slowly, he uncapped Riptide. You can never be too careful.

As he drew near the door, he heard voices.

"Ouch, will you just-"

"That's my foot-"

"Okay, you go that way, and I'll-"

"OW!"

Percy was confused – he could hear Jason, but who else was in there? There were no screams of terror, so he assumed Jason wasn't dying and put away the sword. He knocked twice and opened the door.

"Hey, man what are you – WHAT!?" Percy gaped at the scene in front of him. Jason gaped back. All seven of him.

Seven Jason Graces were awkwardly trying to detangle themselves from the enormous seven person pile that was on his bed. Apparently, he'd split over night. They all stared at Percy like he'd grown a third eye. Then, with a groan and a CRASH, the bed collapsed.

Before Percy could decide between helping him – them – up and simply going back to bed, the others came running.

"Jason? What was-" Piper broke off when she saw her boyfriend (boyfriends?). Annabeth groaned and buried her head in her hands, like 'Not again'. Frank was so surprised he turned into a rabbit. Leo's eyes went wide as dollars **(A/N: Okay, in Australia, we have dollar coins. I'm not sure how big other currencies are (sorry). Dollars are around 1-2cm across, which is around two-thirds of an inch, I think.)**. Hazel simply stared.

"That." Piper finished.

Soon, they were once again gathered in the mess hall. Annabeth took the head of the table, as per usual. Percy and Frank sat on opposite sides of the table, closest to the exits – just in case.

"Okay," Annabeth brush some hair out of her eyes. "Firstly, Leo, I think you want an explanation?"

"Nope. I woke Jason up after I saw some weird stuff on the ship's security footage, just last night, in fact." Leo answered breezily. Frank frowned.

"Security footage?" he asked. Leo realised everyone was staring at him oddly.

"Not in the cabins!" he threw up his hands in exasperation. There were general sighs of relief all round. Seriously, what do they get up to in there? Percy was still frowning.

"What about the training area?" he asked. Leo's eye twitched slightly as he tried not to smile.

"Yes, even there." Percy turned slightly pink. Leo considered telling him not to be embarrassed; he had a wonderful singing voice. But he decided against it. Annabeth didn't know what was going on there, but there were more important matters at hand.

"Alright, we've done this before." She addressed the seven Jason's. "Introduce yourselves – by personality, not just as 'Jason' -, no you're not leaving, you are helping us brainstorm things you can all agree on, let's wrap it up before breakfast." Annabeth folded her arms and looked at them. In short, she was hacked off with Hera. They had a quest to complete, for Hade's sake! End of the world, ring a bell?

"Honesty." A Jason with bright, happy, yellow eyes piped up, waving at them.

"I'm Storm." This one's hair stood up crazily and seemed to have lightning in his eyes.

"Would you be the crazy, creepy one?" asked Leo. Storm shook his head.

"Lightning powers are common among Zeus's kids." _Unlike Fire. _There was no need to say it aloud.

"Hey," This one was plain old Jason – blond hair with a groove and level blue eyes. "Fire's made to be crazy and creepy. It has nothing to do with you, man." He addressed the room confidently. "I'm Leadership, by the way."

"Guilt." He looked sad and his eyes were dark, murky green, like shadows behind cellophane.

"Over what?" asked Percy incredulously.

"Doesn't matter." said another quickly. He had neat hair, perfect posture and dark eyes that continuously moved, like he was noting and calculating everything in the room and beyond. He nodded politely. "Caution."

"Courage." said another proudly. He had a confident smile and royal purple eyes that sparkled like, _Yeah, bring it on world!_

"Romance." Said the last one, who had pink eyes. He gave Piper a grin.

"Hey, Leo had a Romance too!" said Frank.

"On this ship, I think everyone has a Romance, Frank." said Leo. He grinned easily, but was a little concerned. His Romance wouldn't have told them about Calypso, would he? Leadership noted his hidden nervousness. He'd intentionally left Calypso out of the story last night, thinking he'd made Leo feel awkward enough. Hazel sighed.

"Okay. So, now, what are you going to agree on?" Everyone looked expectantly at them. Surprisingly, Courage shot Leadership a look.

"It would be nice if we could agree on _something._" he said pointedly.

"Not this again." sighed Guilt. Leadership glared back at Courage.

"I stand by what I've already said on the matter." he said.

"Well, we have to decide! You both know we do!" snapped Honesty. "Let's stop putting it off and choose!" He looked directly at Leadership, speaking calmer. "If we're, well… honest with ourselves, we want to stay at Camp Half-Blood."

"We have duties at Camp Jupiter!" cried Guilt.

"Not anymore," said Courage. "Frank's Praetor now."

"And who's going to help him?" snapped Leadership. "What, we just throw him in the deep end?"

"Reyna's Praetor too. She'll teach him." said Romance. Guilt shot to his feet.

"Y'KNOW, AFTER WE'VE PUT REYNA THROUGH, MAYBE WE SHOULD STOP TAKING HER FOR GRANTED!" he shouted. He continued a little quieter, but only a little. "You're just saying that because we love Piper!"

"Exactly!" yelled Romance. "That's why we have to go to Camp Half-Blood!"

Suddenly, they were all on their feet, arguing. Courage, Romance and Honesty wanted to go to Camp Half-Blood. Leadership, Caution and Guilt felt obliged to aid the Legion. Storm tried desperately to stop the fighting. Courage shoved Leadership. Leadership shoved him back. Soon, all six would start brawling.

Storm jumped on the table and shoot mild electricity into the air – just enough to make everyone's hair stand up in a cartoonish sort of way and the lights flicker.

"WHAT IF WE HELD A CONTEST?" The six Jason's turned to him, suddenly interested. Storm hesitated. He'd only been interested in stopping the fighting. A contest _could _resolve this, or it could make it worse. He shrugged. You could get struck by lightning – does that mean you shouldn't risk going outside?

"So, we hold a contest – say three events – and the winners choose the camp. Team Greek," he gestured to Courage, Romance and Honesty. "Versus, Team Roman." He gestured to Leadership, Caution and Guilt. "No arguing at the end, no 'if's', no 'buts', no swaps and no hard feelings. OK?" The Jason's started nodding. The idea made sense.

"Or!" said Annabeth. Was she the only one who could see how badly this could go? "You could talk to each, sort out your differences and come to a mutual decision! Won't that be fun?" They stared at her strangely. She smiled hopefully at them.

The two new teams shook hands. Annabeth face-palmed. The questers groaned.

"Let the games begin!"

**Whoo, it just got INTERESTING! Don't forget, I welcome Piper and Hazel plot ideas and don't forget – LOVE CURSE or SILENCE CURSE? (seriously, I can't decide, help me out here). **

**Or, if you have a nifty curse to throw in, go ahead. I'm open-minded.**

**Till next time!**


	3. Magic

**Hello, all!**

**BY THE WAY, I MADE A HUGE AS SCREW-UP! I FORGOT COACH HEDGE WAS WITH REYNA AND NICO IN THE LAST ONE! GAH! So, he's still on board, it's just Reyna and Nico…**

**Oi opakio: I was hoping for story ideas, please. Thanks for answering!**

**ReAdErSfEvEr: Yep! All seven of them!**

**Let's go!**

_"Let the games begin!"_

* * *

"GET BACK!" she yelled. Reyna was the Praetor of New Rome. Even monsters backed down when she yelled. Particularly when she'd just vaporised a dozen of them in under a minute.

Slowly, the remaining telekines stepped away from the great statue, the girl warrior and the sleeping one. Reyna stood her ground between the dog-faced attackers and the Athena Parthenos and Nico di Angelo, who was passed out at the statue's feet.

"Now," she said carefully, her voice controlled and dangerous. "Unless you want to go to Tar-" She broke off as the ten telekines attacked as one, snarling hungrily.

She deflected the first's blade and stabbed him easily. She kicked another in the chest, sending him into another, then swung her blade over their heads, vaporising the one behind them. She whirled and slashed another, and turned to stab at the two who were struggling to their feet, only to be parried by a third. This one was slightly more skilled than the rest, so he lasted around five extra seconds. Well done him. The two had finally got to their feet and attacked her from two sides. She ducked and rolled out of the way, and came up ready to fight them, only to find they had hit each other and been vaporised. Seriously?

She cut, whirled, stabbed, blocked and sliced her way through the four remaining. Then she stood panting. Had she gotten them all? One, two on the ground, the one behind them, the skilled one, that's five. Plus the four she just took care of. Nine. So where was the tenth? The thought had barely formed when she heard a hideous growl behind her. Number ten was leaning over Nico.

"No!" she yelled. She ran and hit him in the head with the butt of the sword she'd taken from Camp Jupiter after an over enthusiastic recruit broke her spear in training. The blow was enough to dissolve the monster, but the damage was done. The Son of Hades looked pale, his eyelids fluttering weakly. He had a cut in his left shoulder. It was shallow, but long. No doubt it would burden him when he shadow-travelled.

Reyna cursed softly. It seemed they be spending more time in Spain than she'd originally thought. Then she shrugged. Di Angelo needed as much rest as possible before he made the jump over the Atlantic Ocean. This gave the stubborn boy an excuse to get it. He was turning out to be one of those 'don't-worry-I'm-strong-enough-to-do-it-now' types. Admirable, perhaps, but not at all wise.

She glanced around. They were in a small clearing on hill, surrounded by scraggly undergrowth. Not the best cover, but at least they had high ground. It's not like she could move the Parthenos anyway. She started setting up camp and treating Nico's shoulder.

Nico woke up hours later, with a bandage on his shoulder and some more colour in his face. They sat quietly, nibbling cold rations. They'd been travelling together for a few weeks, but they still spoke little. Nico wasn't easy to warm up to, a trait Reyna could relate to.

So Reyna explained what had happened, and Nico quietly thanked her, hiding how annoyed and useless he felt. First stupid Tartarus, then the stupid jar, then having to be rescued _again _by stupid Percy from the stupid jar, then the stupid, exhausting shadow-travelling, and now, Reyna was having to baby him because of his stupid shoulder. Good gods, his life was stupid.

As the night got darker, Reyna smothered the fire to coals, so the bright light wouldn't attract monsters, but they could still see. As it turns out, the movement was counterproductive.

The Athena Parthenos started to glow with a silvery, magic light to rival the moon. The statue of Nike, goddess of victory glowed particularly bright. The magic seemed the move and ripple, flowing to the man sized angel in Athena's hand. Soon, Nike was the only thing glowing.

Reyna and Nico stared at it. Most of the light faded, but the mini-goddess statue still glowed softly with magic.

Then, Nike opened her eyes.

* * *

"Break!" called Hazel. Piper lowered her jagged sword. She and Hazel had been sparring in the training room, like they do every day. Hazel noted with approval how Piper lowered the weapon, but remained vigilant. The first few times, Hazel had called 'Break', and then attacked her suddenly seconds later. It seemed a little mean, but Piper had to learn not let her guard down – particularly if the person was still holding a weapon.

Now, Hazel could see that her stance was casual but ready, and her sword positioned so she could block quickly. Good. She sheathed her own sword and put her hands up. Piper followed suit, grinning. They got some cold water and sat on the benches. Hazel looked at her, slightly concerned.

Piper had kept her guard up, but she seemed a little distracted during the sparring. Hazel didn't have to be a child of Aphrodite to figure out what was bothering her.

"He'll be fine." she said. Piper looked at her. "Jason. I'm sure all of him will be fine at the first event tomorrow." Piper nodded her understanding, looking a little bummed.

"But what if Team Roman wins?" she asked. "No offense."

"None taken." Hazel replied. "They won't."

"How do you know?" Piper asked desperately. Hazel turned to her, eyes twinkling like pools of molten gold.

"Romance is on Team Greek." she said simply. "He'll kick some butt for you – trust me."

** Ooh, what's up with Nike? Well, I know, but you guys get to enjoy the surprise! Sorry it was kinda short.**

**Yay, I worked out how to use the fancy little line breaks! **

**Argh, words come so easily for this, but why don't they come when I write my own novel? So unfair.**

**Still looking for curses, tell me your opinion, please!**

**Till next time!**


	4. Blanket

**Hi, guys! Saw Frozen today. It was awesome! I LOVE DISNEY!**

**In other news, my little brother has invited his friend to stay two nights. Of all the rude, arrogant, loud, little…*eye twitches. We got into an argument (I know, I'm 16, he's like 11, but…) and I just wanted to pull a Nicholas Cage; "Okay, run along, you impossible child". ARRRGH! **

**RascalJoy: Glad you're enjoying it! I'm glad people keep saying silence curse, romance is NOT my forte…**

**Sydy: Did you get my PM?**

**DISCLAIMER: Forgot to do this last time. Oops. I still own nothing.**

_"He'll kick some butt for you – trust me."_

* * *

"WHOO! YEAH! GET HIM TO THE GREEK!" Needless to say, Coach Hedge approved of this separation much more than Leo's.

"Coach, 'Get Him to the Greek' is a movie, not an anti-Roman battle cry." Piper said gently. Gleeson looked a little disappointed, but she was too caught up to be too concerned.

Caution and Romance were standing in twin chariots on the deck. Leo – somehow – had built them nearly overnight. At first, Piper had been confused as to how they intended to race on the deck, but then they enlightened her – her boyfriends were going to race in mid-air. _Oh, much better, _she thought sarcastically. _Instead of trying to play a dangerous sport on a ship where they couldn't go fast and would only fall half a metre, they want to race through the sky, at top speed, where they could plummet to their deaths if Storm doesn't catch them. Yay._

As she, Hedge, Leo, Hazel, Percy and Frank watched, Storm helped the participants tether storm spirit horses to the front of their chariots. She was too worried to wonder where Annabeth was. The other Jason's were perched on the yardarm.

"Okay, people!" called Storm. His legs were gone, and had been replaced by a whirling stormy tornado that allowed him float a good metre off the ground. "I'm the referee, not there are rules, and the medic, not that we'll need it! Got it? Let's do this clean, boys." Romance and Caution both nodded. No matter what aspect it was, no Jason would play dirty. "Okay, the race track is marked by those little balls of cloud. Perfectly round, unlike the others. You can't miss them. Just fly between them. It'll lead in a large circle around the Argo. I will be watching on Leo's video shield. Man, that kid is really into surveillance. Creepy." Leo face-palmed **(A/N: Yeah, that's just going to be a running joke…FOREVER!)**.

"ON YOUR MARKS! GET SET!" Both racers got ready, leaning forward in their chariots.

"GO!" Coach yelled, and then blew his whistle. They both took off like bullets from pistols.

"Coach! That was my line." whined Storm.

"Deal with it, Cupcake!" Coach said, looking through his binoculars. Storm rolled his eyes and went to turn on the video shield. Leo, Piper, Frank, Percy and Hazel looked over his shoulder anxiously. The Jason's simply gazed into the sky, probably picking things up with their Jupiter-ish powers. The image flickered to life.

As soon as the whistle blew, Romance and Caution snapped the reigns and took to the sky like very competitive Santa Clause's. They rode side by side, until Romance slowly started pulling ahead. But when they rounded the first of five markers, Caution took the advantage. He sped up, took the inside of the track and belted around the marker, leaving Romance behind.

"Ooh, and that's a sneaky move from Caution as the racers round the first marker, but he has Romance hot on his tail, he shoots, he shoots, he – OW!" Leo broke out of his joking commentary as Percy flicked him on the ear. Rubbing his ear, he shot Percy a look. Piper tapped him on the shoulder.

"Leo, you didn't put weapons in the chariots, did you?" she asked concerned. Leo shook his head.

"Why make a bad situation worse?" he asked.

"Who needs weapons to do that? We have your commentary." Percy quipped lightly. Leo shoved him playfully. Percy chuckled. Everyone else shushed them, concerned for the racing Jason's, who were once again, neck and neck. The rounded the third marker and Piper's breath came easier. Halfway there and they were both fine.

The perfect time for everything to go wrong.

The questers tried time and time again after to explain what they felt in that moment. They couldn't. It wasn't a physical sense, or a little chill. It was more…a blanket. A thick, choking, invisible blanket that descended on the entire ship, and the two racers. They could see, and they could breathe – it was like it wasn't there at all. But they could sense it was. And it was obviously everyone else's fault.

Caution got sick of being cautious. He glared at Romance, and then rammed the chariot into his. Piper cried out in fear and outrage. The vehicle shook and rattled as Caution attacked him again and again. Romance struggled to remain in control, but then his wheel fell off, spiralling into the clouds below. Most would think losing a wheel in the sky wouldn't be a problem. It was. The chariot immediately over balanced, tilting away from Caution. Soon, the passenger would follow the wheel.

But Romance had other ideas. He lunged at Caution's chariot, grabbing the side. They glared at each other, nose to nose. Romance pulled back a fist and dealt a forceful punch to Caution's jaw.

"YES! That's it!" cheered Piper, pumping her fist. The others stared at her. It wasn't like her to be so violent. Only Leo seemed to understand.

"Well, it would make sense she sides with Romance." he shrugged like Piper's behaviour was totally normal.

"Well, you would side with her." sneered Frank. Percy looked at him in amazement. Frank was Frank. He didn't sneer.

"And what's that supposed to mean!?" snarled Leo. Wait…was Valdez angry? What is happening? Percy's head swivelled wildly between them.

"Okay, let's just-" he started, but Frank cut him off.

"Well, you do have a nasty habit of moving in on your 'friend's' girlfriends." Uh-oh. Leo blushed so hard, his little, elfish ears caught fire.

"At least _he_ can take a joke, Lizard-man!" Percy pinched himself. Did Piper just say that? Hazel stepped forward, and Percy's jaw dropped. Hazel Levesque had just slapped Piper!

"DON'T TALK TO MY BOYFRIEND THAT WAY, GRAECUS!" she shrilled.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" yelled Percy stepping between them. "What is happening? Graecus? Hazel-" Once again, Frank Zhang cut him off.

"Which side are you on?" he asked Percy. Suddenly, all four were staring intently at him.

"What?" he asked self-consciously. Leo rolled his eyes.

"Greek or Roman?" he asked. What? That was what this was about? Percy remembered that strange feeling before. What had that been? Leo and Piper were from Camp Half-Blood, his home. Frank and Hazel weren't from his home, but they were his family. His sense of loyalty felt like it was tearing two ways.

"I-uh-umm…" he stumbled. He was saved by a two chariot crash. Caution had broken free off Romance's grasp and landed on the deck. Romance tumbled onto the deck seconds later, his broken chariot landing on its side.

"Caution wins! Point to Team Roman!" called Storm. Percy looked at him. Wasn't he going to say anything about what just happened? Leo and Piper started muttering angrily about 'dirty Roman cheaters'. Then Piper helped Romance to his feet and went downstairs. Slowly, with many furious glares and smug grins, everyone else followed suit, until Percy was alone on the deck. He leaned against the railing and gazed up at the clouds.

"What just happened?"

* * *

"Ouch!" Annabeth bumped her head on the table she was under. All night, her mind had been whirring at top speed. Why would Hera split Jason? Leo had seemed fine the morning Jason was split. Had those two fought again? Annabeth didn't think so.

So, Hera couldn't be involved. So who was? That was the reason she was on her hands and knees, searching the engine room for clues. It was brilliant, in theory, but in half an hour, she'd found nothing. She heard a crash on the deck above her, so she guessed the race was over. Sighing, she got to her feet.

She groaned as she saw the worktable. She spilt a candle and gotten wax on some blue print. It was still readable (was that a popcorn cannon? Really, Leo?), but Leo would still be upset. She set the candle up right.

Then something caught her eye. A little silver glint. She raised the candle again and looked at it. Picking it up, she realised what it was. It was the clue she'd been searching for.

A silver key, the symbol of Janus.

**Virtual pat on the back if you can guess what's happened to the questers! No-one? Okay, you'll just have to wait.**

**Y'know, I seriously considered leaving you hanging at "The perfect time for everything to go wrong". Tremendous cliffie. Gosh, what evil thoughts! Well, I'm for sleep. Night!**

**Till next time!**


	5. Madness

**Hi! I shared chips with my little sister today, and I kept making 'do you want some chips with your salt' jokes (seriously, who dumps three packets on their hot chips?), so she gave me the Chinese rude finger, the rude French gesture I taught her and the fake rude finger that Ross does in FRIENDS. When she turned away, I did the three-clawed gesture for warding off evil. I win. **

**Novalunni: Yeah, I'm terrible to characters. You should see what Andrew's going through (character from my own novel. Hopefully one day, I'll get it finished and published, and then maybe you will see! :D).**

**ReAdErSfEvEr: Hmm, close, but not quite! :D**

**RascalJoy: I appreciate the compliment, but I have to be honest. My update date thing went on the blink and didn't change. Chp 3's been up for days… You are kinda close with the Janus theory, but not quite right. :D Mwahahahahahaha!**

_A silver key, the symbol of Janus._

Reyna was getting frantic. Jason was crossing swords with himself, as the crew cheered, spurring them on. Both Jason's fought with rage and determination. The Imperial Gold blades clanged together, again and again, until one knocked the other down. Reyna watched, horrified, as Jason ran himself through.

She jerked awake. Reyna had the same dream last night too. Nico's shoulder was still hurt, so they were still camped out on top of the little Spanish hill. She cast her gaze down to hill, searching for what had woke her.

Some would say she woke up because of the dream, but she knew better. Her instincts were sharp as razors. Behind her, there was a soft moan – the sound that had woke her. She turned to see Nico on the other side of the little campfire. He was tossing and mumbling in his sleep. Reyna stared at him. Her first aid experience was respectably large, but Nico's good arm was shoving the bandage like it was bothering him.

Cautiously, she pulled it away, and immediately covered her nose. Urg! The wound smelled terrible! Inspecting it, she felt ice coat her stomach. It was still weeping, dark blood coming in a slow trickle. The wound was surrounded by dull yellow and angry red splotches. Lining the narrow cut was a sticky looking blue liquid. Placing a hand to his forehead, she felt his temperature was blazing.

Reyna felt panicked. How had this happened? She'd cleaned it out straight away, and this level of infection would taking days, maybe weeks to occur, not a day and a half! She looked again at that blue substance. She thought about the Telekines uncanny ability to make weapons. She re-checked his temperature. The penny dropped.

The blade had been poisoned.

Annabeth stared at the key in her hand, her mind whirring. Janus was the god of beginnings and endings. He also covered choices – she knew that all to well. If he was the one who separated Jason, he want him to make a choice – Greek or Roman, obviously.

Annabeth froze, realising what this meant. If Janus wanted Jason to make a choice, he had to make it properly, not with silly games. He had to sit and talk about it and decide.

Annabeth smiled. Whether Janus cared or not, she didn't know. She did know that a god and a sensible theory on her side would make this go easier. She could stop the games before someone got hurt.

She bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time. When she got to the top of the first flight, she stopped. She felt different, like a blanket had been thrown over her. Her mind seemed to clear. She couldn't stop the games, even if she wanted to. Suddenly, the key and Janus didn't seem to matter as much.

She continued to run upstairs, stopping at her cabin to drop the key on her bedside table. It wasn't really that important. She'll tell the others later. She dashed towards the mess hall, where she figured the others would be. She could wait to see who'd won the race. She really hoped it was Team Greek.

A scowl settled over her features. She remembered all she went through to get the Athena Parthenos. She despised Romans.

She burst into the mess hall. As she expected, everyone except Percy was there. Her scowl deepened. The outcome of the race was obvious. Caution had dried blood covering the lower half of his face, but that filthy Roman had a smile five miles wide. In fact, all of the Romans – Hazel, Frank, Leadership, Guilt and Caution – had enormous smug grins. The Greeks – Honesty, Romance, Courage, Leo, Piper and herself, of course – were trying to hide their disappointed. Courage was putting on a brave smile – how fitting.

Storm sat at the head of the table, glancing nervously between the two sides. He could probably sense the coming storm – that would explain the random sparks coming out of his spiky hair. Coach had apparently gotten bored and retreated to his room.

Percy came in and saw her standing there.

"Annabeth!" he sounded relieved. "You won't believe what been happening! Everyone started fighting out of the blue! What's happening?" Annabeth barely heard him. She frowned as a rather disturbing thought occurred.

"Whose side _are _you on?" she asked. Percy looked horrified. All eyes turned to him.

"Oh, Annabeth, not you too!" he sighed, then addressed them all. "Listen. You're all taking the games too far. We have to calm down and think. What was that feeling out there? I mean, c'mon," he laughed, a little nervously. "The games aren't really _that _important-" Annabeth cut him off.

"Not important?" she hissed dangerously. She fingered the hilt of her dragon bone sword. Her stomach boiled with rage and betrayal. How could he think that? She pointed accusingly at Frank and Hazel. "Don't you remember what _they _put me – put _us_ - through? They stole Athena from Greece. THEY TURNED MY MOTHER INTO A HALF MAD LUNATIC!" she roared. She felt a rush of regret at the look on Percy's face. She still loved him to bits, but at the moment, her anger was squashing everything else. "So, I followed the BLOODY Mark of Athena, we almost DIED several times, and you are still friends with them!?"

Percy looked totally shell-shocked, but she could apologise later. She turned to the Jason's. "Whose competing next?" she demanded.

"Me and Leadership. Tomorrow." Said Honesty.

"Leadership and I." Annabeth corrected him with a friendly smile. He was after all Greek. She shot Leadership a defiant look and turned to leave. On the way out, she turned to Percy.

"Figure out which side you're on."

**That's it for tonight. Hoped you all enjoyed it!**

**Sorry if there's not enough 'getting to know Jason', but that was more Leo's thing. They all have a different reason for splitting, see?**

**Till next time!**


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